Luxo hatchbacks: the group test

Which of these pulls off the ‘small car, big thinking’ trick best? Ollie Marriage investigates

It also explains why the BMW 1-Series is rear-wheel drive. Sure, there are nice engineering reasons, but there's also a powerful marketing message in there - that driving matters. The Volvo V40? That's potentially the odd one out here. As we'll see, it has a slightly different outlook, like the whole car has been approached from a distinct perspective.

Engine-wise, these are the cars you're most likely to be looking at. Decent diesels, each with between 134 and 148bhp. With the exception of the Mercedes, all can be had with these engines for less than £22,000, but we're assuming you'll want yours to look and feel the part, which means taking a step or two up the spec ladder. So we're talking £23,000-24,000, which, with the odd optional treat thrown in, ups the ante to, ooh, about £29,000 if most of these cars are representative (clue: they're not - they're overdone, especially the £37,510 Merc).